WHAT KOWEN FOUND
No volley greeted them.
There was no crash of vapor bombs, no cloud of pungent gas, no clash
with desperate and determined criminals who fought on behalf of their
leader and master!
There was nothing but silence--a silence broken only by the deep
breathing of the sheriff and his deputies, who had sprawled into that
hall expecting to meet with instant battle, and to whom the unexplained
silence was more trying than combat.
Again Sheriff Kowen gave a signal, and one of the men opened the door at
the end of the hall. They entered an ordinary living room that was
adorned with cheap furniture; it might have been the living room of the
home of a family in moderate circumstances.
They passed on to a small dining room, investigating an ordinary
bedchamber. Sheriff Kowen began thinking that he had made a serious
mistake.
"That woman came in here--and where is she now?" the sheriff said.
"Search the rest of the house--go into the basement--don't leave a
corner untouched. We're in here now, and we might as well do our work.
That woman is here some place, remember that. We saw her come in, and
she hasn't left."
They searched the kitchen, another small bedroom, and found nothing,
neither a trace of Mamie Blanchard nor anything that would indicate
that the cottage was a den of thieves. They located a trap door, and
opened it, and saw a flight of steps running down into a dark basement.
"Careful!" Kowen warned his men. "They're probably down there waiting
for us! We'll not all run into the trap!"
He delegated one man to remain above. He flashed his electric torch, but
could see nothing except the flight of steps and the landing at the
bottom. With some of the others close behind him, with his electric
torch in one hand and his revolver in the other, Sheriff Kowen started
to descend the steps.
Each instant they expected to hear the sound of a shot, or the explosion
of a vapor bomb, or to encounter one of the traps rumor said the Black
Star always had in his headquarters. Step by step they descended, but
nothing happened.
They reached the landing, peered around the corner of a concrete
projection. Sheriff Kowen gasped.
"Careful!" he warned again. "This is the headquarters, all right, and
there doesn't seem to be anybody here--but you never can tell. Watch out
for tricks and traps! Be careful what you touch and where you step. When
he was after the Black Star before, Roger Verbeck found himself in a
trap when he thought he was boss of the situation--don't forget that!"
The sheriff stepped to the floor, walked a couple of paces away from the
steps. He saw an electric switch on the wall, hesitated a moment, and
then turned it. The basement was bathed in light.
All the deputies with him were on the floor of the basement now. A
chorus of gasps escaped them.
The basement was not like the rest of the house. It was furnished
lavishly. In the middle was a long table. At either end was a blackboard
on the wall. There were half a score of heavy chairs scattered about.
There were some papers on the table.
"Watch the walls," Kowen instructed. "We've found the new headquarters,
all right. We'll beat Roger Verbeck and the police this time, thank
Heaven! Watch the walls--they're liable to open up and let a gang of
thugs in on us any time. I'm going to look at these papers on the
table."
He posted his deputies where he wished them, and advanced slowly and
carefully across the floor. He was afraid the floor would open and
swallow him, afraid of some clever trap that would turn victory into
defeat and make him a laughingstock.
He reached the table without accident, and glanced at the papers there.
There was no handwriting in sight. The papers had been printed with tiny
rubber stamps. Kowen remembered that such was the Black Star's method.
He picked up the nearest and began reading. His eyes bulged and an
exclamation escaped him.
"Great--great!" he muttered.
For he was holding in his hands some of the master rogue's orders to his
band. Moreover, they had to do with the campaign of crime the Black Star
had promised. Kowen read it swiftly:
Number Eleven reports that all is in readiness in his department.
Number Four will be at his post a quarter of an hour before
midnight. Number Ten will have charge of the men opening the
vault. One of the watchmen is a man of ours and will attend to his
companion; he is to be bound and gagged afterward by Number Eight,
as we may need him again and do not want any suspicion attached to
him. Automobiles will be at either end of the alley. Exit through
basement door after work is done. The bags of gold are to be put in
the limousine, which will be driven by Number Twenty.
"This is great!" Kowen told himself again. "If we only can nab the whole
gang----"
He picked up another sheet of paper, and started reading that. Once more
an exclamation of satisfaction escaped him.
Midnight, Tuesday. National Trust Company. Preliminary work
completed. All who have received orders will act accordingly. Must
be no failure in this first case. Loot will be heavy.
"Going to tap the National Trust, is he?" Sheriff Kowen said. "Well,
we'll be ready for him at midnight! He's going to run into a bunch of
trouble."
The chief deputy stepped to his side. "Suppose they find out that we
have located their headquarters," he said.
"Let us hope they won't find it out," replied the sheriff. "Don't touch
another thing here."
"How about that woman?"
"That's the one thing that puzzles me," the sheriff admitted. "She came
in here, and we didn't see her leave, and I don't see where she can be.
I suppose she came to get orders, or something like that."
"You can bet that there's some other way to get out of here," the deputy
told him. "You can bet that the Black Star doesn't let his gang hang
around headquarters much. The way he did before was to have them show up
one or two at a time, at certain intervals. He's probably issued all his
orders and has quit for the day."
One of the other deputies startled them.
"Here's a little trap door--and a tunnel!" he said.
Sheriff Kowen hurried to the corner. The deputy had spoken the truth.
There was a small trap door in the floor, and when it was opened the
mouth of a narrow tunnel was disclosed. Sheriff Kowen issued his orders
rapidly. Into the tunnel they went, flashing their electric torches,
revolvers held ready for instant use.
They followed it a distance of a hundred feet--a dusty tunnel that
twisted like a serpent. They came to another small door, finally managed
to get it open--and stepped through the thick wall into the alley!
"So that is it!" the sheriff exclaimed. "That is how the woman got away
from the house without our seeing her! Careful, now! We'll go back and
see that everything is as we found it. I've got a little plan that will
be a winner!"
Back they went through the tunnel. They closed the door, saw that the
rugs were in place and that everything in the basement was as it should
be, and went up the flight of steps.
They made sure that nothing in the house had been disturbed, went
outside, and found that the front door had not been much damaged. One of
the deputies locked and bolted it on the inside, then got out through a
window.
"We'll hope that none of his gang has seen us around here," the sheriff
explained. "I've got to let the police in on this, but we'll get the
credit, all right. I haven't men enough! We'll have deputies and police
scattered all around this place to-night, and we'll nab anybody that
goes into this cottage, either by the front door or the alley tunnel.
We'll be waiting for Mr. Black Star at the National Trust Company's
place, too. The police can help, but we'll get the credit! And when we
get that crook back in jail----"
Sheriff Kowen did not finish the sentence, but some of his deputies
grinned. They realized that the master crook would be in for a bad hour
when he was once more behind the bars. Sheriff Kowen knew how to punish
prisoners who tried to escape.
"The big crook isn't as clever as he was before," the sheriff said. "I
guess those few months in jail have dulled his wits. If we can catch
some of those whelps that worked the game on us and got him away, I'll
be highly gratified. I won't need much help when it comes to teaching
them a lesson!"
Once more his deputies grinned. They walked to the corner, received
fresh orders there, and scattered. Sheriff Kowen engaged a taxicab and
ordered the chauffeur to take him to police headquarters with the
greatest possible speed, traffic regulations notwithstanding.
He found the chief of police there, and Roger Verbeck in conference with
him. Verbeck's big roadster was at the curb, and Muggs was at the wheel.
Kowen grinned at him as he entered the building.
"So here you are!" the chief greeted him. "You've got a nerve to show
your face after letting the Black Star get away from you!"
"Oh, I don't know!" Kowen said, smiling at them. "Have you gentlemen
done anything?"
"What can we do except wait until he pulls off a stunt, and then go
after him?" the chief demanded.
"Go after him first! That is what I did."
"Oh, did you?" asked the chief mildly.
"With some measure of success," said the sheriff modestly. "I have
discovered the Black Star's headquarters. I have seen some orders to his
gang that he left scattered around his table. I found nobody at home
when I called, and have every reason to believe that the crook and his
gang don't know they have been located."
"Where is the place?" Verbeck asked.
The sheriff told him.
"Possibly you are right," Verbeck said. "But the Black Star is a tricky
individual, remember. And the orders are----"
"At midnight to-night," said Sheriff Kowen, trying to retain his
modesty, "the Black Star's gang will try to loot the National Trust
Company's vaults. Now, let's get down to business!"